Monthly Archives: June 2016

New research shows similarities in the social organisation of bees and mammals, and provides insight into the genetics of social behavior for other animals. These findings, published in PLOS Computational Biology, use sociogenomics -- a field that explores the relationship between social behaviour and the genome -- to show strong similarities in socially genetic circuits...

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit dengue, chikungunya, and zika viruses. A study published in PLOS NTDs reports a new technique that could make one approach to mosquito control--using Wolbachia bacteria that reduce the mosquitos' ability to transmit viral pathogens--a whole lot easier and cheaper to implement and evaluate.

When a team of researchers began listening in on seven sperm whales in the waters off the Azores, they discovered that the whales' characteristic tapping sounds serve as a form of individual communication. But what are they actually saying?

"They clearly have something on their minds -- but to be perfectly honest, we haven't the faintest...

Fruit flies may seem simple, but these common visitors to the fruit bowl can drastically alter their gene expression and metabolism to respond to temperature changes in their environment, an international team of researchers have shown.

The finding is important because understanding how insects tolerate changes in temperature is a crucial step in protecting and controlling...

Several conserved microRNAs, or short, highly conserved noncoding RNAs that are targeted to and inhibit expression of specific genes, may be involved in the regulation of limb regeneration across evolutionarily distant species, according to a study published June 29, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Benjamin King and Viravuth Yin from Mount Desert...

Coyote tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata) produces a potent neurotoxic substance: nicotine. The production of nicotine is regulated by plant hormones called jasmonates. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Washington State University have now demonstrated the importance of jasmonate-dependent nicotine production for the survival of...